Tag Archives: Carla Kelly

The Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly

book review March 16, 2015 Leave a comment

As an author, Carla Kelly shows belief in people’s innate goodness, even when her characters are being buffeted about by the unpleasantness of the world. This faith in humanity creates an undercurrent of true kindness in all of her works which I really enjoy and appreciate. Things may go wrong, and for the heroine of The Admiral’s Penniless Bride events have been truly soul-crushing, but there is always hope.

The title does not mince words. Sally Paul is genuinely penniless when the book opens. Associated with a scandal not of her own making, she has lived hand-to-mouth working as a paid companion to the old and infirm for five years . Governesses’ children grow up, Sally’s elderly employers pass away. When her new charge shuffles off this mortal coil before Sally has even knocked on her door, her situation changes from desperate to drastic. Unpaid, she departs and uses the last of her coins to buy a cup of tea to nurse and keep warm in the town pub. Sally has nowhere to go and less means of getting there.

Newly retired, Admiral Sir Charles Bright gave his youth to his king and country fighting Napoleon. Spending literally years of his life at sea, he is, at 45 years old, now adrift on dry land. He has purchased a dilapidated and salaciously-appointed home for its marvelous sea view, but other than avoiding his sisters’ determination to marry him off right quick, he is at a loose end. When he sees Sally sitting in the pub, he notices both “a lovely neck” and that she is clearly underfed and in dire straights.  He arranges to feed her and joins her for the meal. They hit it off and he proposes a marriage of convenience. He has been left at the altar that very day and has a special license ready to go, so how about it? Sally says no.

Charles finds Sally again, this time getting ready to sleep in a local church, and repeats his polite suggestion of wedding as an excellent option for them both. Realising this is her only choice other than the workhouse, Sally agrees. However, the new Mrs. Bright avoids and then shrinks from revealing to Charles the truth behind her current circumstances. In between the marriage of convenience that becomes very convenient indeed and her forced revelation, things go very well. Charles and Sally build their own community by embracing the overlooked and abused souls around town. It’s an act of kindness from people who understand that life can be cruel.

Up to the breaking point, I really enjoyed The Admiral’s Penniless Bride. The easy rapport established between Charles and Sally was lovely without being saccharine and the reader could appreciate how their individual experiences fit them together so well. Unfortunately, the plot took its anticipated left turn and the disappointing denouement derailed the book. Charles reacts strongly to Sally’s betrayal and while it was a good plotting decision to have events turn out as they did, I was disappointed by Charles’ conduct and the way his actions were excused to bring on the happy ending.

My summary of Carla Kelly’s catalogue can be found here. Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.

The Lady’s Companion by Carla Kelly

book review October 17, 2013 Leave a comment

I use the word “lovely” too much in everyday conversation. I try to be more creative and thesaurusy in these reviews, but lovely really is the best word for this novel. Carla Kelly writes sweet, gentle, sincere Regency romances and The Lady’s Companion is no exception. Kelly does not reinvent the wheel*. She follows her romance tropes and brings everything to a happy, satisfying ending. I have read four of her books in rapid succession, thank you Rochelle, and I have another one waiting on my Kindle. Unlike Kelly’s novels that I reviewed previously, this book goes beyond “just kisses”, while maintaining its oblique decorum in the love scenes.

Originally published in 1996, The Lady’s Companion is the story of Susan Hampton, a genteelly impoverished lady whose marital and future hopes have been dashed on the rocks of her wastrel father’s gambling addiction. Where, oh where, would romance novels be without shiftless male relatives casually ruining women’s lives? After moving in with her aunt, Susan recognises that unless she does something, and right quick, she will disappear into the role of servile relative for the rest of her days. She finds an employment agency and gets hired as a companion to Lady Bushnell in the Cotswolds.

Lady Bushnell is not happy to have yet another unnecessary companion and Susan must find a way to make herself useful. The farm is being managed by Lady Bushnell’s bailiff, David Wiggins. He served as a sergeant under Lord Bushnell in the Napoleonic Wars and has a debt of honour to the family. David is what The Dowager Julien would describe as a “nice-nice man”, gentle, kind, and loyal. Susan is out of his reach socially, but since David doesn’t care about such nonsense and Susan has no use for the so-called social superiority that ruined her, they have a chance to carve out a life for themselves on their own terms and defy the conventions that would seek to limit them. Everything proceeds towards the happy ending at a calm and reasonable pace, free of melodrama, but not of challenges. Kelly’s writing is not only strong when showing Susan and David’s growing relationship, but also wonderfully evocative in terms of the setting and time period.

My summary of Carla Kelly’s catalogue can be found here. Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.

*Actually, she does sometimes, such as with Libby’s London Merchant and
Beau Crusoe.

 

Miss Whittier Makes a List, Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand, and Reforming Lord Ragsdale by Carla Kelly

book review October 15, 2013 Leave a comment

Miss Whittier Makes a List was loaned to me by Rochelle at the same time as she sent over The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockway. I was grateful for the loan and even more grateful that Carla Kelly’s writing was good. Miss Whittier Makes a List was the best of these three historical romances and it inspired me to buy two more. They were the most enjoyable read from a new-to-me author I have had in quite some time.  The books were a change for me in terms of the sensuality, or lack thereof. There are variations of sexual activity for every taste in the romance genre and I have read everything from vanilla sex to thisclosetoerotica to vanilla kink, but not novels limited to one or two kisses. Carla Kelly falls into this last category, referred to as  “just kisses” by the romancerati, but even these were not explicit. Anything beyond kissing that takes place in these novels is either fade-to-black or gleaned by straining through oblique references; nonetheless, she manages to politely convey impolite desires.

Miss Whittier Makes a List 1994

Hannah Whittier sets out on a trip from Boston to Charleston to visit family and, her parents hope, meet a nice Quaker man to marry. Waylaid by a British naval ship and then shipwrecked by French privateers, she is found and taken on board by that same British crew and their intriguing captain, Daniel Sparks. Unfortunately, the ship is not bound for Charleston and Hannah must go along for the ride in the hopes of eventually being able to make her way home. Before her sundry nautical catastrophes, Hannah made a list of desirable qualities in a husband. Word gets out.

I’m not big on grand adventure romance novels, but this one was just fantastic and I have added it to my recommendations list. Daniel and Hannah are an interesting pair who seem to be opposites but are, of course, an excellent match each for the other. I must warn prospective readers though that Miss Whittier Makes a List’s main characters have an age difference that while historically realistic may be discomfiting to readers.

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